


What If

by actuallylailah



Category: Harvest Moon, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Inspired by Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 14:36:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12559580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actuallylailah/pseuds/actuallylailah
Summary: Farming is one thing, love is another, and Chelsea has never met a problem she couldn't strong arm. What if this all goes wrong? What if Vaughn finds someone else? What if she's just not good enough?





	What If

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by What Ifs by Kane Brown

The door to the restaurant burst open, light spilling out into the cool night air and painting the grass in streaks of yellow. It snapped shut behind Chelsea’s form as she hurried out, red boots digging into the soft earth newly wet from last night’s rain, and headed back to her farm. Her steps were uneven, her pace weaving, but she was standing upright and had no question about the direction she was going.

Again the door opened, this time a different figure topped with a cowboy hat exiting. Unlike Chelsea’s uneven path, Vaughn made a beeline for her and came up beside her in only a few steps.

“Hey, what was that about?”

Chelsea stepped away, arms raising to keep her balance, then turned and kept going in a completely different direction. Determined to not meet his eyes, she stayed to a wide path around him as if that might help. Of course, all he had to do was follow after her in a straight line again. It was another one of her sudden, stubborn moods brought on by who knew what. They came and went as quickly as the wind.

“C’mon, if you’re not gonna talk about it at least let me get you home safe.”

He attempted to reach out to her but she jerked out of the way, already feeling stubborn and too many cups in to think straight. But the jerky motion put off her already delicate balance until she teetered on the sole of her boot and fell backwards with a thump on the wet grass.

Vaughn sighed and crouched next to her, a respectable distance but close enough.

“What’s going on?”

She hadn’t looked up yet, which was unusual for her. He’d never known Chelsea to hide her emotions and that’d she’d gone so long without speaking was mildly worrying. Especially after they’d actually been having a nice night out. He thought maybe she might be upset at how bad she was at dancing. His feet could attest to her ability, but it wasn’t like he actually minded. All he’d been doing was two-stepping, nothing fancy, but his competitive streak wasn’t a mile wide.

When she finally did look up, he didn’t expect to be greeted with watery blue eyes. 

“T-this isn’t gonna last, Vaughn.”

He stared at her blankly. “Why not?”

“‘Cause I’m bad at this! I’m bad at dancin’ and at relationships and you’re just gonna get tired of me steppin’ on your boots.” And he’d leave like everyone else. She wiped at her eyes, so far holding the tears in through sheer willpower alone. 

Here was Vaughn, rarely on the island as it was and she was stepping all over his boots. What if he found someone else? What if he left her? It was less a what if and more a when.

Vaughn didn’t have the best social graces, but he’d caught on enough that this wasn’t about dancing. But he didn’t really know what her exact problem was and she wasn’t forthcoming just yet so he shrugged. “Then we won’t dance.”

“But I want to dance with you!”

“Then we will.”

“But I’ll step on your boots!”

“It’s fine.”

“No it’s not!”

“Then get better.”

Chelsea pouted at him. “That’s not helping.”

Vaughn sighed. “I can’t read your mind. What’s wrong?”

Again, her blue eyes averted from his. He half expected for her to get up and try to start walking away again. If Chelsea wasn’t tackling her problems, she was sprinting away from them faster than any wild horse under the threat of a rope.

“You’re not here much. What if you find someone else?”

“Someone who doesn’t step on my boots?”

He saw her mouth waver and immediately regretted the, albeit joking, question. 

“Yeah. Who doesn’t step on your boots. And they’re better at this,” she waved her hand vaguely between the two of them, “stuff. And you realize you don’t need me and leave?”

“I’m not out here in this wet grass because I think this isn’t going to work out, you know. I’m not playing around about us or looking at other women when I go out. I’m working.”

Her head lowered, hair to falling and covering her features. “I know but… what if you leave and never came back?

From his spot, Vaughn leaned forward, his knees sinking into the grass. “Chelsea.” His voice dropped low for only her to hear and it was enough to make her look up at him. As soon as she did, he pushed forward to kiss her.

It was the only solution he knew and it seemed to work at least a little bit. Her arms curled around his shoulders, hands hooking behind him and running up the back of his neck until his hat fell and tumbled across the grass. They leaned back in unison until the grass brushed against her exposed midriff and his hand settled on her waist. 

Their kiss broke and Vaughn pressed his forehead against her. “What if we’re meant to be, Chelsea?”

Her eyes widened. “W-what?”

“What if I was made for you?” He kissed her again, nice and slow, their lips parting achingly sweet. “And what if you were made for me?”

“I want that.” She did. Goddess, she really did. She really liked him.

“What if what we have is the real thing?”

“I want it to be.”

He pulled her close and leaned in, covering her mouth with his and kissing her thoughts into oblivion. Legs tangled, it was easy for her to push him to the side and roll on top of him.

“What if I get old and ugly?”

“That’s not a what if.”

She slapped his chest and he grinned. 

“What if I get old and ugly,” Vaughn countered. 

Chelsea shrugged. “Will you still be able to dance?”

“Maybe. My back might be out.”

“And I’ll have to care for you and feed you by hand?” Her voice took a turn for the dramatic.

“It’ll be horrible,” he confirmed. “I won’t be able to do a thing without you.” Vaughn pushed himself up, feeling her slide down to his lap and her legs go around him. “But I guess I’m already like that.”

Soft moonlight highlighted the flush of her cheeks. “So, you don’t think you’ll find someone else?”

Vaughn shook his head. “Can’t since I’m not looking.” He glanced back at the bar and then back to her. “You want to head back inside or sit out in the grass all night?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m sitting on you, not the grass.” Chelsea stuck her tongue out but then hopped off and stood. “But yeah. I want to dance some more.”

He nodded and stood as well, dusting at his clothes and picking up his hat.

“I’ll try not to step on your toes,” she told him as they started back.

Vaughn simply shrugged and felt her hand reach for his. “Practice makes perfect.”


End file.
